Census shows fewer wolves in Michigan's Upper Peninsula

State wildlife biologists report a slight dip in the wolf population following last fall’s controversial hunt.

The DNR claims there are 636 wolves roaming the U.P. That’s down from 658 in 2013.

Credit USFWS Midwest

The Department of Natural Resources has just completed a census of wolves in the Upper Peninsula. The DNR admits the count is more of an estimate than an accurate head count.

The DNR claims there are 636 wolves roaming the U.P. That’s down from 658 in 2013. But given the inexact nature of trying to count animals that usually avoid humans, state wildlife biologists say the census actually shows the wolf population is stable.

“We are using an estimate rather than counting all individual wolves on the landscape. In addition, wolf numbers vary greatly within a single year due to the birth of pups in the spring, and deaths from many causes of mortality other than hunting,” says Adam Bump, DNR furbearer and bear specialist. “What the estimate tells us is that the population has remained stable.”

Critics of last fall’s wolf hunt see it differently.

Jill Fritz is with Keep Michigan Wolves Protected. She says the numbers “reflect how Michigan’s fragile population of wolves is still struggling to recover" from near extinction not long ago.

Twenty-two wolves were killed in last fall’s state sanctioned hunt in three specific parts of the Upper Peninsula. A 23rd wolf was also killed, but it was not properly registered with the state.

Michigan voters will get a chance to weigh in on the future of wolf hunts in the Upper Peninsula in November. The controversial hunt will be the subject of one, two or maybe even three separate ballot questions.

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When the Michigan Natural Resources Commission voted to allow a wolf hunt in Michigan, they did so with the idea that the hunt would help curb the number of so-called "problem wolves" in the Upper Peninsula – wolves that preyed on livestock owned by cattle farmers.

But MLive reporter John Barnes looked at the wolf predation records in the Upper Peninsula and found that one farmer accounted for the majority of predation reports.

It looks like a referendum on the controversial issue of wolf-hunting is headed to the November ballot – again. This will be the second hunting-related ballot question (and, possibly, not the last) voters will decide in a little less than eight months.

The Keep Michigan Wolves Protected Campaign turned in petition signatures to the state Bureau of Elections just yesterday. It takes 161,305 signatures, and we can reasonably expect the campaign has enough names. Because, after all, they’ve done this before.

Most recently, just last year, when Keep Michigan Wolves Protected filed enough signatures to suspend and challenge the first Michigan wolf hunting law adopted after the gray wolf was taken off the federal endangered species list. That is the first referendum challenge and it is already on the November ballot.

But the Legislature, as well as Gov. Rick Snyder, would not be thwarted. They adopted a second law to allow wolf hunting (among other things), and that is the target of this newest referendum campaign.

Michigan’s top wildlife officials were briefed today on last year’s controversial wolf hunt.

23 wolves were killed during the seven-week hunt. That’s well below the target of 43 wolves.

Adam Bump is the point man on wolves for the Department of Natural Resources. He delivered the briefing to the Michigan Natural Resources Commission. Bump says the DNR will take the next several months to evaluate how to improve future hunts.